Student invited to arts festival

Isabella Vincent, a student of dance with Pure Existence X2, has been named a Michigan Youth Arts Distinguished Scholar and invited to participate in the 53rd annual Michigan Youth Arts Festival on May 7-9 in Kalamazoo.

Nearly 1,000 Michigan high school student-artists have been invited to attend this year’s festival. The students, chosen from more than 250,000 across the state, are selected via a vigorous adjudication process adhering to exacting artistic standards. The invited scholars represent multiple artistic disciplines, including creative writing, dance, media arts, instrumental and vocal music, music composition, theater, and visual art.

“Michigan Youth Arts is honored to host this annual event because it not only encourages artistic excellence at the high school level, but also creates an awareness of the importance of art in the lives of Michigan residents,” said Marianne Dorais, executive director. “The extraordinary talent of our distinguished scholars, whether as vocalists, actors, dancers, musicians or artists, is something of which the entire state can be proud.”

This year marks the 53rd anniversary of this three day event, featuring workshops and master classes for the students, alongside more than 20 student performances and exhibitions that are open to the public.

Vincent is a junior at Brighton High School and carries a 4.03 grade-point average. She began dancing at the age of 3 with Ginny’s Danceworks, where she continues to train as a member of their competitive dance team. Trained in many dance forms Vincent’s main focuses are ballet, contemporary and lyrical. Currently, she is in her second season with Pure Existence X2, a pre-professional contemporary dance company. In addition to her many X2 performance opportunities, in 2014 she was cast as the Firebird in the Russian Ballet Academy of Michigan’s production of “The Firebird.” She has received many regional, national and international dance awards, including the title Miss Spotlight Dance of Detroit 2015. She is excited to be returning to Michigan Youth Arts Festival with her fellow X2 company members for a second consecutive year.

Michigan Youth Arts is an alliance of 16 statewide education associations that work together collaboratively to develop high quality arts education programming, recognize the contributions of valuable teachers, and provide advocacy resources for parents, educators and policymakers. The Michigan Youth Arts Festival is an annual showcase that recognizes, supports, and celebrates the artistic excellence of young artists in Michigan. For more information, visit www.michiganyoutharts.org.